The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak. Shafak is an award-winning Turkish-British novelist whose previous novel 10 Minutes, 38 Seconds in This Strange World was short-listed for the Booker Prize. We loved this latest novel set in Cyprus and London and featuring a sassy fig tree.

Coming up: The Magician by Colm Tóibín.

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Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

1d:T424,Anna and Annie discuss the 2025 Women’s Prize and try to predict the winner. Since we recorded this the winner has been announced: The Safe Keep by Yael Van Der Wouden. (Annie was right!) And Annie wraps up recent Australian book award news including the Stella Prize winner Theory and Practice by Michelle de Kretser and the Miles Franklin Literary Award longlist. Our book of the week is THE NAMES by Florence Knapp. Cora goes with her daughter Maia to register the birth of her son. According to family tradition, he will be called Gordon, after her husband. Cora prefers the name Julian and Maia suggests Bear. The story breaks into three as we see the ripple effects of each decision. Described as 'the best debut novel in years' (The Sunday Times), this buzzy book has been an instant bestseller and on many 'best of 2025' lists. Coming up: THE EMPUSIUM by Olga Tokarczuk translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Substack:

Ep 193: Island of Missing Trees by Elif ...